Tuesday, 14 September 2010

"The Iranians seized on reports of Koran burnings near Ground Zero and elsewhere in the U.S. to fan deadly riots Monday in mostly-Muslim Kashmir.

Indian forces killed more than a dozen people and wounded scores more rampaging rioters, who chanted 'Down with Koran desecrators' as they attacked a Christian school in one town and government buildings in other cities.

They also chanted 'Down with America' and 'Down with Israel,' cries rarely heard in Kashmir where Muslim rebels have long waged a bloody rebellion against Indian rule.
U.S. Ambassador Timothy Roemer appealed for calm and condemned Koran-burning as 'disrespectful, intolerant, divisive and unrepresentative of American values.'

'The deliberate destruction of any holy book is an abhorrent act,' he said.

Kashmiri officials also removed a state-run Iranian station from local cable networks that had been fanning the anger by repeatedly broadcasting reports of Koran burnings in the U.S., said Kuldeep Khoda, who heads the state police."

Protesters hold signs supporting beheadings and massacres
to people who insult Islam after the publication of the
Mohammed cartoons.

So, no burned Koran but Muslim riots (not all Muslims riot but an important number are rioting) have spread. It's interesting to note that Iranians have fueled them (the same that riots and violence against the Mohammed cartoons were also fueled from outside Denmark) and that Christians (people, not books) continue under attack throughout the world.

Indian Government is worried about the new leadership born in the area where a climate of violence has been growing in recent weeks. Since June 1 more than 70 people have been killed and it's possible that the "Burn Koran Day" is just another excuse to boost violence:

It is being said that Muhammad Qasim alias Aashiq Husain Faktoo, an erstwhile commander of Jamait-ul-Muhajideen and the husband of Asiya Andrabi, the leader of the ultra-Islamic Kashmiri organisation Dukhtaran-e-Millat, has managed to create a vicious network from within the confines of the jail, where he has been lodged for the last 17 years. He is said to be one of the spearheads of this spiral of violence. In close support, are people like Masarrat Alam Butt, the Hurriyat leader and the Vice Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim League.

These new leaders exercise command through conduits, mobile communication systems and word of mouth. Their dictates' spread across the valley like wildfire. They have effectively marginalised the likes of Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani.

Recently, Geelani came up with five pre-conditions for the reestablishment of peace in the valley.. The unabated violence that has been continuing even after the release of his 'pre-conditions' indicates that even if they are met in full, he does not have the influence to stand by his word and ensure peace.

The same can be said for the other Hurriyat leaders, whose carefully nurtured media campaign of projecting the so-called struggle in Kashmir as peaceful and non-violent, has been thrown to the winds.

A small, but dedicated extremist cadre, is holding the state to ransom, while the existing leadership is merely trying to save face by defining the violence as a frustration of the people that is spilling over in the streets. Nothing can be further from the truth. In fact, the people are helpless due to an immobilised leadership.

According to asca.it, the attacked schools have been the Catholic Good Shepherd School in Pulwama, where 17 people were killed in a deliberate fire, and two Protestant schools, the Christ's School and Christ in the School in Pooch Mohalla Jammu. The attacks on the two Protestant schools were condemned by the separatist leader Geelani in a press release: "I call all Muslims to protect all minority members and their places of worship. We should maintain at all costs the old harmony and brotherhood inside the community, by which is known Kashmir in every corner of the world".

He should have been in a "jokeful" manner when writing that last part...

"The [district] governor must give us an assurance that the church is not going to burn the Koran, otherwise we will attack foreign troop bases in our thousands," Mohammad Yahya, one of the protesters, said. For his part, the governor, Mohammad Amin Rahim, said he had tried to convince demonstrators that the burning would not go ahead "but the demonstrators were not convinced and attacked us".

In neighboring Pakistan, Christians have linked a blast at a Lutheran church in Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to the threats of burning the Qur’an.
A grenade attack on the night of Sept. 12 ripped off the lower half of the front gate of Sarhadi Lutheran Church. Two police guards and a watchman on duty were injured.
The church and a school inside its compound have been closed since the attack.
“It was a very strong blast and was heard throughout the city. A window of the Church building was also damaged. We are now conducting meetings with police officials for providing better security,” Church of Pakistan Bishop Peter Majeed told ucanews.com.
Anti-American demonstrations were held around the country as Pakistani news channels highlighted the news last week.
Thousands burnt their television sets on Sept. 13 as a protest in Nowshera, northern province, after a local imam (prayer leader) urged Muslims to do so.
“Burn everything invented by foreign hands. We shall defeat the plans of Satan,” said Maulvi Sardar Ali Hqani.
The incident occurred about two kilometers away from Holy Name Catholic Church.
“Christians in the vicinity have fled the area. The protest diminished at midnight. Police has also warned us to be careful. We can stop people, but can’t stop a possible rocket attack,” said Father Amri Yaqub, the parish priest, quoting the security officers.

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